The darkness outside the safehouse was absolute, but inside, the walls buzzed with activity. Lucien sat at a steel desk, his shirt unbuttoned, sleeves rolled to his elbows, staring at a wall of screens. Each feed showed a different piece of their empire: boardrooms, vaults, private estates. All monitored, all compromised. Zara leaned against the opposite wall, arms folded, watching him.
"We can't stay hidden forever," she said. "Eventually, we'll need to hit back. Hard."
Lucien didn't respond immediately. He was analyzing encrypted fragments pulled from the hacked broadcast—trying to isolate the voice distortion on Sebastian's message.
"He didn't just hack us," Lucien finally said. "He wanted to leave a fingerprint. He wanted us to know it was him."
Zara stepped closer. "Why? To rattle you?"
"No. To provoke me." He glanced up, eyes colder than frost. "My father never does anything without a deeper purpose. He's not just back to reclaim power. He wants to finish the purge he started years ago. And this time, it's personal."
Zara's jaw tightened. "Then we give him a reason to regret it."
Lucien stood abruptly. "We take the fight to him. But first, we need to know what he's planning next—and for that, we need bait."
Zara's eyes darkened. "Me."
He looked away. "It's the only way."
At ValeCorp's downtown tower, the boardroom was filled with wolves in suits. Zara walked in with the confidence of a queen returning from exile. Her navy suit matched the sapphire studs in her ears—subtle symbols of Raine authority.
The media had gone wild since the failed broadcast. Rumors swirled: Had she been attacked? Was Lucien being ousted? Was Zara staging a takeover? Zara fed every theory with silence. Let them guess.
At the head of the boardroom, she placed a leather file on the table. "Effective immediately, I'm consolidating all Raine-linked shares into a singular trust. I'll be exercising those votes directly."
Gasps. Murmurs. Panic.
"This is hostile," barked a senior board member.
"This is necessary," Zara said coolly. "Our enemies are already inside our walls. If we pretend business as usual, we lose."
Across the city, Lucien watched the meeting through a secure feed. Evelyn Shaw stood beside him.
"She's playing with fire," Evelyn muttered.
Lucien nodded. "Good. It'll draw out the rat."
That night, Zara returned to the safehouse. Lucien was already waiting, pacing like a lion.
"It worked," he said. "Sebastian just sent an emissary. He wants to meet. Tomorrow."
Zara blinked. "You're kidding."
Lucien stepped closer, voice low. "We're going in. Together. But we're not going to talk. We're going to end this."
She touched his chest, pulse fluttering. "Are you sure you can do that? Kill your own father?"
He cupped her face. "He stopped being my father the day he targeted you."
Their kiss was slow, but the tension between them ignited fast. Their hands found each other, desperate and determined. They made love on the living room floor, surrounded by blueprints, discarded clothes, and the flicker of war on the screens.
Afterward, Zara lay against his chest, tracing the scar on his shoulder. "What if this is the last night we ever have like this?"
Lucien whispered, "Then we make it count."
The meeting took place in a neutral territory: an abandoned cathedral in the outskirts of the city. Lucien wore black, every inch the predator. Zara wore crimson, the color of defiance.
They arrived separately. Inside, rows of broken pews cast long shadows. The only light came from a stained-glass window shattered at the top.
Sebastian stood at the altar like a dark priest. Ageless, cold, and smiling.
"Zara. Lucien. The power couple of the decade," he said. "So good of you to join me."
Lucien's voice was ice. "Why now? After all these years. Why not stay buried?"
Sebastian spread his arms. "Because peace is the illusion of the weak. You tried to fix what should've been destroyed."
Zara stepped forward. "You orchestrated the fall of the Raines. And now you want to finish the job. But here's the problem, Sebastian. I'm still standing."
He tilted his head. "For now."
Lucien pulled a small device from his coat and tossed it at his father's feet. A live feed appeared on a hidden screen—broadcasting Sebastian's words directly to the ValeCorp board and media outlets.
Sebastian's smirk vanished.
Zara smiled. "The truth is power, remember?"
Gunshots rang out. Sebastian's guards moved. Lucien tackled Zara behind a pillar, returning fire. Chaos erupted. Dust filled the air. Blood sprayed across the cracked tiles.
When it ended, Sebastian was gone.
But they had enough.
Back at the penthouse, Zara clutched a flash drive containing the full audio confession. Lucien stood at the window, phone to his ear.
"Release it," he ordered. "All of it. Tonight."
When he turned, his eyes burned with both triumph and grief. "He escaped. But his empire? It won't survive the night."
Zara sat, exhausted. "And us?"
Lucien walked over, knelt beside her. "I will burn every legacy I've ever known before I lose you. Understand that."
She looked at him. For once, no walls. No games. Just the man and the woman, at the end of a storm.
And just before dawn broke over the city, Zara whispered, "Then let's finish what we started. Together."